The quiet, emotional beats of 1998 are arguably the best. Sharon (Sharon Case) is struggling with single motherhood, and Nick (Joshua Morrow) is the rich, bad boy turned good. The scene where Sharon tells little Cassie (Camryn Grimes) that her father isn't coming back is devastating. These episodes are the bedrock of the next decade of storylines.
If you are sorting through the archives, these are the primary arcs that dominated 1998: the young and the restless 1998 internet archive best